Lipstick container



Feb. 3, 1959 w. H. HARRIS LIPSTICK CONTAINER INVENTOR William H. Harris Filed Feb. 27, 1957 LIPSTICK CONTAINER William H. Harris, Litchfield, COIJIL, assignor to Scovill Manufacturing Company, Waterbury, Conn., 21 corporation of Connecticut Application February 27, 1957, Serial No. 642,790

2 'Claims. (Cl. 206-56) This invention relates to improvements in cosmetic containers and holder casings for the same and particularly to one in which the container can be replaced without discarding the relatively expensive permanent outside casing.

It is one of the objects of this invention to provide a permanent outside casing consisting of a decorated holder base and cover and into which may be assembled a removable unit, such as a container for lipstick pomade, powder, perfume and the like which can be assembled to the casing and operated until exhausted after which the exhausted container may be replaced with a new one, such replaceable containers being conveniently referred to as a cartridge.

In regard to lipstick containers, in the past this has been accomplished in one of two ways. First, the old pomade had to be removed from the carrier cup and a new pomade stick inserted therein. This method is rather time consuming and is very messy. Also there is the possibility of deforming or breaking the new pomade stick. In the second method the lipstick container is made with a throw-away cartridge containing the pomade stick, carrier cup and propelling mechanism. When the pomade is used up or a dilferent color is desired, the cartridge is removed and a new cartridge assembled in its place. This second method pertains to one of the features of this invention.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved cartridge for a refillable lipstick container wherein the operating means is at the top or open end, thus avoiding the problem of establishing a non-rotatable connection between the base part of the permanent casing and a narrow operating portion as in the usual cartridge. With my improved construction the base of the permanent casing can have a firm grip throughout its length on the cartridge or at least throughout a substantial part of the length of the base.

A further object is to provide an improved refillable insert cartridge witha temporary cap that will not only protect the pomade from dirt and dust but will prevent the pomade from being raised until the cap is removed.

A still further object is to provide an adequate holding means to frictionally retain a cartridge within a holder base and also a positive locking means to limit rotation of the cartridge relative to the base within prescribed limits to assure a positive non-rotative hold upon the cartridge in case any portion of its operating mechanism should become jammed.

My improved construction permits use of a wide variety of decorative holder bases and cover caps especially since the base may be made to grip the outer shell of the cartridge at any point along its length.

Other advantages will be apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompartying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of holder base and cover, with the refill cartridge shown in full assembled therewith and both units embodying features of my invention.

2,872,034 Patented Feb. 3, 1959 Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the refill cartridge and protective cover assembled thereon.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the inner shell of my car tridge member showing the carrier cup and pomade stick in position to be assembled.

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 44 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a perspective exploded view of the refill cartridge and holder base, and

Fig. 6 is a vertical cross sectional view of modified form of construction.

Referring now to the drawing the numeral 10 designated generally a refill cartridge which may be removably held in a holder or casing base 11 of the type generally disclosed in Patent No. 2,859,867.

The manner in which my refillable cartridge is associated with the particular structural features of the holder base 11 will 'be more fully described later.

The cartridge member 10 consists of a tubular outer shell 12 having a closed lower base end 13, and within said shell is positioned the usual helical member or sleeve 14 frictionally carried thereby. Rotatably fitted within the combined shell 12 and helical sleeve 14 is an inner shell 15 having a lower open end 16 and formed with an enlarged operating head 17 at its upper end thus providing a shoulder 13 therebetween. The shoulder 18 overlies the upper end of the outer shell 12 and helical sleeve 14, and the lower end of the inner shell 15 is formed with an outwardly circumferential rib 19 that cooperates with an inward locking nib 20 on said outer shell 12 for holding said inner shell 15 in place. The upper end of the head 17 may be folded over upon itself as at 21 for appearance sake and for eliminating any rough or sharp edges. The outer surface of the head 17 may be provided with a line knurl or otherwise roughened as indicated at 22 to provide a better gripping surface. 15 has a longitudinal slot 23 extending from the upper shoulder 18 downwardlythe full length thereof and opens through the lower open end 16 of said shell. At the point where the slot 23 intersects rib 19 it is considerably restricted as at 24 and then merges into a flared mouth or entrance 25.

Slida-bly operated within the inner shell 15 is a carrier cup 26 containing a pomade stick 27. The carrier cup 26 is relatively long as compared to such cups as used in conventional swivel containers, and in order to avoid waste of pomade an insert plug 28 may be assembled in the bottom of said cup. The carrier cup 26 is formed with a lateral projection 29 that cooperates with the usual helical slot 14a in the helical sleeve 14 and the longitudinal slot 23 in the inner shell 15 and which upon relative turning of the outer and inner shells l2 and 15 servesto advance and retract said carrier cup.

To assemble the carrier cup 26 with its pomade 27 irito the inner shell 15, it is only necessary to position the two units one above the other as shown in Fig. 3. The carrier cup 26 is then moved upwardly until its lateral projection 29 comes into contact with the flared mouth 25 of the slot 23. A slight pressure upward on the carrier cup 26 will force the projection to cam through the flared mouth 25 and cause the restricted portion 24' to spring outwardly and allow said projection to pass herethroug'h and into the slot 23 after which the restricted portion 24 will snap back to its original position to its upper end as a unit until the lower rib 19 of inner The inner shell portion of the outer shell '12. Experience has shown, however, that the above several parts may be held together without the need of a locking nib 2% formed in the outer shell 15, but depend entirely on the frictional engagement of the helical sleeve 14 tensioned outwardly against the inner surface of said outer shell. For reasons as will appear later, the outer shell 12 is formed with a plurality of longitudinal slightly raised ribs 30 extending substantially the full length of said outer shell, there being preferably three ribs. These ribs, as will he more fully described later, serve to permit the holder base to establish a gripping connection anywhere along the length of the refill cartridge.

In shipping my refill cartridge before it is assem bled into the more decorative holder member or base 11 and a complementary closure cap 31, such as shown in Fig. 1, I provided a temporary cap 32 that fits over the upper end of said cartridge. Specifically it will be noted from Fig. 2 that the relative dimensions of the parts are such that the I. D. of the temporary cap 32 has ample clearance with the 0. D. of the operating head 17 of the cartridge and said cap being adapted to frictionally embrace the crest diameter of the adjacent ends of the three longitudinal ribs 39. Also it is within the purview of this invention to have the temporary cap 32 frictionally fit upon the cylindrical surface of the cartridge outer shell 12 in case the ribs are shortened to the length shown in .the modified construction of Fig. 6. This construction affords a safety feature in that any turning of the cap 32 relative to the outer shell will not impart longitudinal movement to the carrier cup such as would jam the pomade against the closed end of said cap 32.

The holder or carrying base 11 consists of a reduced cylindrical portion 33 and an enlarged head section 34 having a closed end 35. On the reduced portion 33 adjacent to head section 34 there is provided three inwardly formed longitudinal ribs or projections 36 equally spaced thereabout. The inwardly formed projections 36 are so constructed that they will embrace the outer surface of the cartridge shell 12 with sufficient gripping effect to permit rotation of the inner shell 15 by means of the operating head 17 without rotating said outer shell within the holder 11 for the purpose of moving the carrier cup. It will be noted from Fig. 4 that when the cartridge 10 is completely assembled into the holder base 11, the longitudinal ribs 30 of the outer shell 12 will be disposed anywhere between the inwardly formed projections 36 of said holder base 11, see Fig. 4. This interrelationship between the outer shell ribs 30 and the holder base projections 36 will only allow for a limited rotation of the outer shell 12 relative to the holder base 11 after which the ribs and projections will laterally abut each other as a stop. This arrangement of interfitted ribs and projections obviously will establish a positive drive connection between the holder base 11 and the outer shell 12 in case there should be any accidental jamming of the operating parts within the refill cartridge.

The other part of the decorative casing may be termed a permanent closure cap 31 which is adapted to having a frictional fit over the outwardly formed ribs 37 of the holder base 11 for holding said cap in place. Also it is to be noted that the relationship of the cover cap 31, the holder base 11 and the refill cartridge 10 is such that any accidental rotation of the closure cap 31 relative to the holder base 11 will not impart any rotation to the operating head 17, thus assuring that the pomade will not be jammed against the cover cap.

In the modified form shown in Fig. 6, the refill cartridge 10a is substantially identical to that shown in the first form. One of the differences in this form is that I have provided a holder member that is made in two parts and constructed so as to completely conceal the refill cartridge 10a except for the operating head 17a. The holder member consists of a holder base 11a and a tubular decorative shell 41. The holder base 11a differs from the first form in that a larger head 34a is provided that affords a greater surface area for more ornamentation if desired. The tubular shell 41 extends substantially the full length of the refill cartridge 10a except for the operating head 17a. The shell 41 is adapted to be connected to the holder base 11a as a unit by having a forced fit over the neck portion 33a up to a position where it abuts a shoulder 42 between the neck portion 33a and head 34a. By making the holder member in two parts allows for a different coloring or surface treating effect that may be applied to the parts separately before being assembled together as a unit, thus permitting a contrasting coloring and surface treatment to the two part unit.

To prevent the refill cartridge 10a from being telescoped to the closed end of the head 34a, inward nibs 4%) are forced inwardly from the lower ends of the inwardly formed ribs 36a to provide suitable ledges against which the cartridge 10 abuts in its assembled position as a stop and thus keep the operating head 17a exposed above the upper end of the shell 41.

A closure cap 43 is provided that is formed with a reduced neck 44 adapted to have a slip fit within the open end of the tubular shell 41. The construction of the cap 43 is such that it in no way contacts the operating head 17 of the refill cartridge, still embodying the concept of a safety feature to prevent the pomade from jamming against the cover. It is to be noted in Fig. 6 that the ribs 34):: on the outer shell 12a do not extend full length of said shell. This is to assure that the closure cap 34 will have no contact with the insert cartridge Ida and not disturb the latter when the cap is removed from the casing. Also it is to be understood that the ribs 31 on the cartridges 1i and Illa may be interchangeable with the different types of permanent outside casings.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms than those shown and described without departing from the essential characteristics of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A lipstick container comprising a swivel-type lipstick holder or cartridge having the usual outer shell, inner shell and a carrier cup, said outer shell having a closed bottom end and said inner shell having an enlarged operating head exposed at the opposite upper end of said outer shell, means moving said carrier cup within said cartridge upon relative rotation of said outer and inner shells, said outer shell having a plurality of outwardly projecting longitudinal ribs equally spaced thereabout, a holder base for said cartridge, said base having a reduced cylindrical portion telescopically receiving said outer shell and slidably fitted upon said ribs, and projections formed inwardly of said cylindrical portion for gripping said outer shell anywhere between said ribs with sufiicient gripping effect to hold said outer shell against rotation coincident with the rotation of said inner shell, said inward projections adapted to be laterally contacted by said ribs on said outer shell if any turning of said cartridge should occur relative to said holder base to assure operation of said cartridge.

2. A lipstick container as defined in claim 1 wherein a cover cap is provided having telescopic engagement upon the reduced portion of said holder base, and said reduced portion having outward projections providing a frictional fit within said cap for holding the latter in place.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,781,852 Lyhne Nov. 18, 1930 2,256,644 Houlihan Sept. 23, 1941 2,780,351 Grisel Feb. 5 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 148,761 Australia Apr. 5, 1951 518,825 Belgium Apr. 15, 1953 

